Common bacterial immunogens which cause dramatic decreases in an animal's ability to utilize dietary protein include but are not limited to Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Clostridium aminophilum, and Clostridium sticklandii. According to Russell (USDA-ARS, May 1993) these organisms, and others disclosed therein, have been collectively responsible for wasting up to 25 percent of the protein in cattle diets. This is a loss of as much as $25 billion annually to cattle producers and is especially apparent in “grazing animals which are often deficient in protein, even though their protein intake appears to be adequate”. As the host consumes protein in the diet, these deleterious organisms wastefully degrade the protein to ammonia which is converted to urea by the liver and kidneys and thus lost to the host when excreted as urine. These deleterious organisms also compete with beneficial organisms which the host needs for the efficient utilization of ammonia. In addition, they need other beneficial organisms in the rumen the greater the ammonia utilization.
The principal objective of the present invention is to substantially prevent the colonization of deleterious organisms such as P. anaerobius, C. sticklandii and C. aminophilum as well as the growth of such organisms in the rumen and the intestinal tracts of food animals resulting in their substantial elimination from the animal by the administration of the fowl egg antibody to the specific organisms.
Common bacterial immunogens which cause food borne illness in humans include E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter, all of which produce flu-like symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and/or fever, and in some cases kidney damage or death. In recent years foodstuffs contaminated with these bacteria have caused gastro-intestinal distress in tens or hundreds of thousands of people and the recall and destruction of millions of pounds of food. The resulting economic loss has been staggering. Especially daunting as a public health threat has been E. coli 0157:H7, a pathogenic strain of the common gut bacterium, first identified in 1982. The bacteria are carried in the intestinal tracts of food animals and expelled in their feces. From there, the bacteria enter the food supply, not only in the meat of those animals, but foods such as milk, fruit juices, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, radishes, and others.
Haptens are partial or incomplete immunogens such as certain toxins, which cannot by themselves cause antibody formation but are capable of combining with specific antibodies. Such haptens may include bacterial toxin, yeast mold toxin, viruses, parasite toxins, algae toxins, etc.
Other colony-forming organisms include Actinomycetes, Streptococcus, Bacteriodes such as B. ruminicola, Crytococcus and yeasts and mold.
Another principal object of the present invention is to substantially prevent the adherence of immunogens, such as E. coli 0157:H7, or haptens, and the colonization and growth of such immunogens or haptens in the rumen or intestinal tracts of food animals, and substantial elimination of the immunogen or hapten from the feces of the animals, by the administration to the animals of fowl egg antibody to the specific immunogen or hapten.